How to grow a tangerine at home?

Few people think that a fruiting exotic tree can be grown from a tangerine seed. Wonderful citruses will delight you with their regular harvest, though not large. You don't have to live in the tropics to have your tangerine tree on your window... The material below will allow you to grow tangerines at home without making mistakes.

Is it possible to grow a tangerine from a bone at home

Recently, tangerines have been successfully grown in greenhouses, winter greenhouses and on windows. Amateur gardeners have learned the intricacies of growing exotic trees, now it's not a secret for anyone. Due to doubts about whether it will bear fruit, many do not dare to have an exotic pet on their window.

Indoor mandarin

Growing it from a seed is as easy as shelling pears, but to get fruit, you need to follow some recommendations. Benefits of breeding tangerines in an apartment:

• citrus plant by characteristics unpretentious and tenacious;
• neat tree in a pot is wonderful decorate the interior;
• wood will delight with abundant foliage and a pleasant aroma;
• the owners of the tree note that it helps with depression and loss of strength.
• tangerine, like indoor flowers It does not require special care;
• you can grow it from any purchased mandarin;
• from the bone it will turn out excellent decorative tree.

To germinate the seed correctly, you need to buy several mandarin fruits. Remove the largest seeds from the inside. Small and soft will not work, it is better to throw them away.

For indoor cultivation, it is better to choose low-growing species.

Fruiting aside, for the sake of an evergreen on the window, you can plant seeds from any purchased tangerine. For the sake of fragrant fruits - it is recommended to plant the following varieties of mandarin:

1. Unshiu early-fruiting citrus variety it is considered very productive and unpretentious. The undersized tree has a spreading crown with flexible branches. With sufficient care and additional lighting, the tangerine will continue to bear fruit.
2. Indoor variety of tangerine Murcott allows you to get sweet, like honey, fruits. The ripening season is summer.
3. Early ripe tree Shiva-Mikan takes root well in room conditions. Blooms profusely and bears fruit. Fruit weight can reach 30 grams.
4. Many people successfully grow tangerines of the Clementine variety on the window.... In order for it to bear fruit and not grow "wild", a grafting of a sprig of cultivated citrus will be required.

In principle, you can try to plant any tangerine, the question is, will there be any fruit on it? The answer to this question and many other aspects of growing will be discussed below.

Will an ornamental tree grown from a stone bear fruit?

Experts are unanimous in the opinion that the tree will not bear fruit without vaccination.Do not let this scare you, it is not difficult to acquire a cultured scion, one branch will be enough. Tangerines grown in this way, delight with orange fruits for 3-4 years.

If not vaccinated, the tangerines will be small, green and tasteless.

On a well-rooted crown, the scion will quickly take root. Such a plant will cost much less than buying citrus from a flower shop. Many hobby gardeners share twigs to breed different varieties of cultivated mandarin.

Sometimes mandarin is sold with a twig that can be grafted or rooted

There are cases when tangerines are sold with sprigs. For the sake of experiment, you can try to graft it or root it.... There is no need to be afraid of difficulties, there will be no problems with the plant. The effort spent will be rewarded with a fragrant harvest.

Optimal growing conditions

An unpretentious plant requires some conditions for placement and cultivation. By observing these requirements, you can achieve fruiting throughout the year. If the tree is properly looked after, it will constantly bloom and bear fruit. Often on the windows you can find tangerines with fruits of different ripeness. Conditions to be provided:

• stable temperature regime not less +14 degrees;
• best place in the house unshaded windows from the south side;
• plant needs sufficient air humidity, you can achieve it by spraying;
• in dry season it is necessary ensure regular watering (it is recommended to put a container with water next to it);
• in autumn and winter, the frequency of watering is reduced, soil loosening is added;
• in the spring they feed universal fertilizers.

In the first year of fruiting tangerine, part of the flowers are pinched

In an adult plant, a crown is formed, extra branches are removed. With abundant flowering in the first year of fruiting, it is better to pinch some of the inflorescences... This is done in order not to overload the young tree. It is necessary to monitor the condition of the tangerine so that there are no diseases on the leaves and drying out.

A lack of moisture can destroy the plant, and an excess can cause rotting of the roots.

How to choose a seed for planting?

The stone is taken from a ripe, bright orange fruit. Yellows and greens are not suitable. To get 2-3 sprouts, you need to collect at least 10 strong seeds.... Planting is best done immediately, you do not need to wait for the bones to dry out and wrinkle. It is preferable to buy tangerines during the natural fruiting season, in autumn or winter.

In the rest of the year, it is more likely to get low-quality seedlings of hybrids. The quality of the seeds can be checked with water... Heavy seeds will sink, hollow ones will float on top. Thanks to the selection of high-quality seed, the seedlings will be strong and resilient. Weak seeds can die over time.

Landing conditions

The conditions may seem complicated, but these are just the subtleties that need to be met. In the future, everything will be much easier, the main thing is to do everything right. Prepared bones, before they fall into the ground, must undergo some preparation..

1. Seeds must be disinfected from the effects of fungi, hydrogen peroxide solution. The ratio of peroxide and water is 1:10. It is enough to dip the seeds into the solution and remove.
2. Next, take a saucer or any other container, cover it with a soft cloth. Wrap the seeds in it... Moisten the cloth well. Keep it moist every day. It is not necessary to pour it heavily with water, the seeds will rot from an excess of moisture.
3. If the germination process seems tedious, you can immediately sow seeds into wet soil... In case the seeds do not sprout, this option will not work.

Planting depth of mandarin seeds 1–2 cm

4. In a few days the seeds will hatch... At this point, you will need to prepare the ground for their landing. It is better to give preference to light, non-acidic soil.You can buy the land structure ready-made or prepare it yourself. For 1 part of sand, take 2 parts of earth and humus. Land taken in a forest belt is well suited.
5. Pick up a small pot... Place the bones there. Planting depth 1-2 cm. Weak shoots can always be removed. Strong - transplant.
6. Some practice growing seedlings in disposable cups... This method has the right to life, but it is better to take peat or flower pots. Moisture evaporates worse in a glass.
7. Water as the soil requires, it should always be wet.
8. Loosen the soiluntil the plant takes root well, not necessary.
9. In order for tangerine seedlings to grow quickly, it is necessary provide additional lighting... This is especially true in the winter period, when natural light will not be enough.

By the number of shoots, one can judge how high-quality the seeds were. When planting 10 seeds, normal germination of 3-5 seedlings... Some of the seedlings may die as they mature. Natural selection will produce strong shoots.

How to care for a young seedling

Care consists in regular watering and spraying of the leaves. To prevent the leaves from getting sick, do not spray them with tap water. Let it sit for at least one night. It is good to have a special watering can in which there will be settled water... To prevent the roots from rotting, you can add a little potassium permanganate to the water.

Sprouted Mandarin Seeds

As a prophylaxis against aphids and midges, onion peels should be placed around the plant. EIf pests have started, the seedling is washed with water infused with garlic, laundry soap or salt... Midges can live on the soil surface. It will need to be loosened.

Indoor plant grafting

In order for a citrus tree to bear fruit, it is necessary to inoculate the cuttings from varietal mandarin. Slices are made with a disinfected sharp instrument. At the time of vaccination, the young tree should be as thick as a pencil. There are many ways of vaccination, we choose the most convenient option:

• T-shaped scion using a shallow incision under the bark;
• acute angle inoculation, the cut is attached to the cut on the tree;
• V-shaped cut the game is done in the center, a twig is inserted inside.

Tangerine grafting into cleavage

You need to vaccinate quickly and accurately. Tightly bandage the vaccination site and cover it with garden varnish... To ensure comfortable conditions for the plant after the scion, you can cover it with a transparent bag or glass jar. You can use growth stimulants.

A rooted and grafted tree, being on the south side with sufficient watering and fertilization, will delight with an abundance of tangerines. With advice on growing, you can safely start planting... As experience shows, it turns out that everyone can grow a tangerine from a bone.

Most of our children, and often we ourselves, adults, began their acquaintance with botany with a mandarin duck. Orange, fragrant, with bright slices and nondescript bones, it brought us to the question: is it possible to grow such a miracle on our own? And if this question overtook us not far from a pot of earth, even if already occupied by some plant, the seeds were immediately sent to the soil. And after a while, the already forgotten experiment turned into a difficult task: how to care for and get the fruits from your own tangerine in home growing conditions? We will talk about this in the article.

Mandarin tree (Citrus reticulata)

Content:

• Tangerine from the bone - analyzing the difficulties
• What seeds to plant?
• Cooking the ground and picking up the pot
• Planting mandarin seeds
• Transplanting mandarin seedlings
• Mandarin formation
• Tangerine care at home
• First fruiting of tangerines
• How to make tangerines bloom?
• Mandarin grafting
• Tangerine care during flowering / fruiting
• Mandarin pests
• Problems when growing tangerine
• Interesting facts about tangerine

Tangerine from the bone - analyzing the difficulties

Before deciding to grow a tangerine from a seed, you need to think: how much are you willing to work hard to achieve a result, and what exactly do you want from the tree you are growing - just decorative or also fruits? Are you ready to wait? The seed tangerine grows rather slowly. Do you agree to experiments? In order for the plant to bloom, it will take more than one year, and there are often cases that the tangerine, in general, does not bloom, then you will need to help him.

In addition, if a tangerine grown from a stone produces fruits, they do not look like those from which the seed was taken (in order for the variety to repeat, it must be propagated vegetatively - by cuttings, grafts). However, what turns out, in any case, pleasantly surprises!

What seeds to plant?

For planting tangerines, it is best to take seeds from the many hybrids offered for sale today. They sprout faster, bloom earlier, in most cases, produce edible fruits and are easier to graft. It is very simple to distinguish them from real tangerines: the real ones do not have seeds in the fruits, or there are very few of them, and hybrids are always with seeds.

The selected seeds should not be thin, as if dried out, deformed or with a blackened tip. It is good that there are at least five mandarin seeds, since not all will germinate, and if the plants are planned to be grafted, then at least ten, because grafting is not always successful.

Sprouted from mandarin seeds

The next task is to prepare the substrate. There should be no peat in it, since mandarin does not like acidic soil. Therefore, the substrate is either bought in a store, marked with a pH = 6.5-7 (neutral soil), or they are made on their own by mixing two parts of well-rotted humus, two parts of forest land (from under deciduous trees) and one part of sifted river sand. If there is no humus, you can just take non-acidic soil and sand.

Now you need to pick up a container for planting. The first pots for young tangerines are quite capable of becoming plastic cups with a volume of 200 ml, bowls with a depth of at least 7-9 cm (always with a drainage hole) or small pots.

Planting mandarin seeds

For all citrus fruits, there is a single rule: the faster the seed from the fruit gets into the soil, the higher its germination. Therefore, having eaten a tangerine, you do not need to dry its bones, you must immediately place them in the ground, digging them to a depth of 4 cm.

If, for some reason, the mandarin seeds could not be planted immediately, then, in order to slightly speed up the germination process, it is recommended to soak them for several days. In this case, the dishes in which they will lie should be flat, the cloth should be damp, but not filled with water, the place should be warm, but not in the sun. So that the cloth in which the tangerine bones are wrapped does not dry out, the saucer can be placed in a plastic bag, slightly covered, but not tied.

Hurried tangerine from seeds

From sowing to germination

It is impossible to say in advance how long it will take for the seed to germinate and sprout. In some cases, this is 15 days, but more often - about a month. In any case, before germination, it is important to monitor soil moisture and air temperature, which should not fall below + 20 ° C and exceed + 25 ° C. At the same time, it is not recommended to place the pots in a mini greenhouse, tangerines sprout so well, and plants grown in greenhouse conditions will then need to be accustomed to the conditions of the room.

Transplanting mandarin seedlings

If the mandarin seeds are not planted in separate pots, but all together in a bowl, when four leaves appear (it is believed that citrus fruits do not have cotyledon leaves), it is time to transplant them into separate cups.From the obtained seedlings, the most powerful are chosen, and the weak and deformed are discarded, getting stronger and more capable of growth and development of plants.

Sometimes it happens that two sprouts grow from one mandarin seed (in citrus fruits, multi-embryonic seeds are observed). In this case, you can do two things: either pin a weaker plant, or plant the shoots in different pots - usually each of them has its own root system.

The next tangerine transplant should be focused on root development: as soon as the roots take up the entire volume of the cup, the plant is transferred into a more spacious pot. But immediately planting a seedling in a large volume of land is highly discouraged, because in this case, waterlogging of the soil often occurs, which significantly inhibits the plant.

Young tangerine trees are transplanted annually. Fruiting - once every 2-3 years, increasing the diameter of the pot not by 1, but by 4-6 cm. When planting, it is important to take care not to deepen the root collar.

Old plants and large specimens of tangerine are not transplanted, but every few years the top layer of soil is carefully removed in a pot, replacing it with a new, fertile one.

Mandarin is one of those plants that often have to be shaped. The first pinching (if he did not start branching himself) is done to him when the seedling reaches a height of 30-40 cm. This technique makes the tree start up side shoots of the first order. But this is not enough for flowering, because tangerine bears fruit only on branches of the 4th-5th order. Therefore, the pinching is continued, removing the tips of all shoots after 4-5 leaves, as well as weak shoots and those that grow inside the crown. In general, it takes 3-4 years to form.

But to force the branching of the first-order branches, you can go the other way - reject the shoots with a commit. This method is more time consuming, but quite interesting. For its implementation, one end of the wire is fixed on a branch, and the other is fixed with a hairpin at the edge of the pot so that the formed mandarin shoot tilts closer to a parallel position with respect to the ground.

Mandarin tree (Citrus reticulata)

Caring for tangerine trees varies somewhat depending on their age and purpose. If the specimen is young (up to 5 years old) or is grown exclusively for the sake of green foliage, it needs regular watering (the soil must be kept moist, but not flooded), spraying (fairly frequent) and a lot of light (shaded in the summer from the bright midday sun and backlit on winter days).

In warmer months, the tree can be taken out into the air (gradually accustoming it) to a place protected from the wind. Once a month, it is good for a tangerine to have a warm shower.

If the tangerine began to bloom, then, in addition to the usual care, it needs a period of winter dormancy, at a temperature of + 10 ... 12 ° C with more rare watering (it is necessary to allow the earth to dry out a little), a smooth rise in temperatures in the spring and an optimal temperature regime for education buds (within + 16..18 ° C). As well as moderate heat in summer - no higher than + 25 ° C (at a higher temperature, flowers can crumble) and careful spraying (water should not get on the flowers).

Like other citrus fruits, mandarin tends to turn the leaves towards the main light source. Therefore, for a more uniform formation of the crown, it can be rotated around its axis. But this should be done no more than 10 ° at a time and no more than once every two weeks, because citrus fruits do not like permutations and can react negatively to them.

Since tangerines ripen for about 6 months, many people have a question: should the tree rest in the winter or light it up with a lamp so that the fruits ripen? Answer: arrange. Even in conditions of + 10..12 ° C, tangerines slowly ripen.

Top dressing mandarin

Small tangerines are not fed, they are simply transferred into a larger pot.But older plants need to start fertilizing from the beginning of spring growth until autumn. This must be done with a special fertilizer for citrus fruits or mullein infusion (1:10 with water) every two weeks. Chicken droppings are also suitable for feeding (dilute 1:20 tincture at the rate of 1:20 with water).

If the tree is planned for transplantation, tangerine feeding is stopped at least three days before this event. After transshipment, they return to fertilizers no earlier than 2 weeks later. In winter, tangerines are not fed.

Tangerine grown from seed begins to bear fruit in the 5th-6th year. Its fruits do not exactly repeat the taste of the mother variety and may differ from it in size, sweetness, aroma, but not only in the direction of deterioration of these qualities (as is commonly believed), but also in the direction of improvement (here - whoever is lucky).

At the same time, the first fruiting does not yet fully reveal all the characteristics of the plant obtained from the seed. Therefore, if a tangerine has bloomed and set fruits, it must be provided with the most attractive conditions so that the tree can show itself upon repeated fruiting.

How to make tangerines bloom?

It's good if the tangerine blooms on its own. And if not? If so, he can be encouraged to do so. It is necessary to take a copper wire and tightly wrap it around the base of the mandarin trunk so that it is pressed into the bark. This will disrupt the process of sap flow and make the plant “think” about the offspring - to bloom. After six months, the wire must be removed, and the wounded place must be treated with garden varnish - it will recover quickly enough.

However, the method will not work if the mandarin has not formed a crown and has not had a dormant period. Therefore, before starting the experiment, it is necessary to help the tree grow branches of the 4th and 5th order and go through a cold winter.

Mandarin grafting

Another way to get fruit from a mandarin seedling is to plant it. To do this, it is necessary to grow a stock (tangerine from a bone) to the thickness of a trunk with a diameter of a simple pencil (about 6 mm) and find a scion - a small segment of a shoot taken from a varietal mandarin, or rather, a bud (eye) with a leaf petiole.

At a height of 7 cm from the soil on the bark of the stock with a very sharp, preferably with a special gauge knife, make an incision in the shape of the letter “T” so as not to cut through the wood. The length of the incision should be about 2.5 cm, the upper jumper (cap of the letter "T") about 1 cm. Insert the cut mandarin bud (with the leaf petiole) into the bent ends of the bark (gently push them aside with a knife) and press the bark back. Treat everything with garden pitch and wrap tightly with blue electrical tape, leaving the petiole outside. Place the grafted plant in the greenhouse from the bag.

If the mandarin vaccination is successful, the kidney will take root within three weeks, the leaf petiole will turn yellow and easily fall off. If the vaccination is unsuccessful, the petiole will turn black.

If successful, they begin to air the greenhouse little by little, gradually increasing the session time. A month after the emergence of a shoot from a new bud, the stem of the mandarin stock is cut with pruning shears at a height of at least 5 mm from the inoculation site, obliquely. The bandage is removed. The cut is treated with garden pitch.

In the phase of flowering and fruiting, the tangerine needs more phosphorus and potassium fertilizers than nitrogen. Watering should be regular, but not excessive. When the plant blooms, it must continue to be sprayed, but in such a way that water does not fall on the flowers.

In most cases, the mandarin sheds excess flowers and ovary, independently regulating the load. If this does not happen, he needs to be helped by removing excess flowers and tangerines, leaving one fruit on the plant for every 15-20 leaves.

If the tangerines burst when ripening, it means that the plant is irregularly watered, or is experiencing an excess of nitrogen. In order for the mandarin to lay flower buds, it definitely needs winter rest.

Mandarin pests

It has been noticed that, grown from the bone, mandarin is much more resistant to environmental influences and pests than those that can be bought in the store. But, unfortunately, he also has malicious enemies. Most of them are afraid of ultraviolet radiation and high humidity, so maintaining good conditions for keeping plants is also a prevention against them. Who is this? Spider mites, scale insects, mealybugs, and also aphids.

Mandarin tree (Citrus reticulata)

Spider mite

Measuring only 0.3-0.6 mm, it is practically invisible to the human eye. But you can calculate it by the presence of small light dots on the underside of the leaves of the plant and the presence of the thinnest cobweb. If a tick is found, the fight against it should be immediate.

The first thing to start with is to thoroughly wash the plant with warm running water and laundry soap. Then it is necessary to spray the mandarin with Fitoverm, Intavir, Aktelik or other insecticide several times at intervals (7-10 days).

Shield

It is a convex oval plate with a size of only 4 mm. The main sign of its presence is a sticky syrupy coating that appears on the leaves of the plant. If the pest is not destroyed, the tree is quickly depleted and dries up.

You can try to cope with the shield by treating the tangerine with soapy water with the addition of kerosene: for 1 liter of water, 5 g of soap and 10 g of kerosene. Spray up to twice a week.

But more effective treatments (from 3 to 5 times with an interval of 15 days) with insecticides Aktara, Fitoverm or others that can always be found on sale. However, after such treatment, the fruits from the tree cannot be eaten and it is necessary to change the top layer of earth in the pot.

Mealybug

It is quite simple to detect it: the pest resembles a white fluffy bloom, scattered over the plant in the form of small, with a diameter of 3 to 6 mm, dots. You can fight the worm manually, painstakingly collecting individuals, using insecticides - Karbofos, Decis, Intavir, or infusion of soap and garlic (2 cloves of garlic per 0.5 liters of boiling water, insist 4 hours).

Aphid

Almost everyone is familiar with this pest: from 1 to 3 mm long, light green in color, multiplies quickly, lives in colonies. The harmfulness of aphids lies in the fact that they suck the juices from young shoots and mandarin leaves, deforming them and depleting the plant.

In the fight against it, repeated (with an interval of 5-7 days) washing the plant with a solution of laundry soap, spraying with an infusion of garlic (1 head of finely chopped garlic in a glass of water, leave for 2 days), infusion of tobacco (40 g per 1 l of water) is used.

Problems when growing tangerine

Yellowing and falling foliage

This problem can have different causes. It is important not to rush, to carefully analyze the condition of the plant and make the correct diagnosis. In adult tangerines, the leaves may turn yellow and fall off due to their old age. But at the same time, the tree itself looks healthy and develops normally.

General lighting of foliage may indicate insufficient lighting of plants. In this case, you need to take care to rearrange the tangerine closer to the light, or arrange artificial lighting for it.

The shedding of mandarin leaves can begin due to too dry air (in the absence of regular spraying, especially during the heating season), improper transplantation (when the root collar is deepened, choosing too large a pot volume), drafts. If one of these reasons is found, they simply need to be eliminated.

Drying and falling off of the lower leaves of a mandarin, despite the fact that the leaf begins to dry from the tip, is associated with regular waterlogging of the soil. This phenomenon occurs either as a result of over-grooming, or due to too large a pot in relation to the seedling.In any case, the plant must be transplanted into an appropriate pot with fresh, loose (breathable) soil, after removing the rotten roots.

If the yellowing began from the bottom of the crown and spreads to the top, this indicates a lack of nitrogen. In this case, the tangerine must be fed with nitrogen fertilizers.

The light yellow color of young tangerine leaves, which gradually passes over to old leaves, indicates chlorosis (lack of iron). Treatment with iron chelate will help here.

Mandarin leaves fall off for no apparent reason - perhaps the plant lacks potassium. In this case, it must be fed with potassium nitrate.

Blooming tangerine tree

It is important to know that young tangerines often produce rather long thorns - you don't need to do anything with them!

In winter, citrus fruits, growing foliage, often form larger leaf plates than in spring and summer.

In order to distinguish a tangerine sapling from a lemon sapling, you need to smell their leaves - in lemon they smell of citrus, in tangerine - a light aroma of fresh greens. Older plants can be easily distinguished by their leaf stalks - the lemon has a simple stalk, and the mandarin has a narrow long lionfish.

There are different types of citrus trees that can be grown at home. Mandarin is one of the most unpretentious, even a novice amateur can handle it. Consider how to properly grow a tangerine at home: what should be the planting and care of seedlings; how to graft a plant to get tasty fruits; what care an adult tree needs.

Soil selection

Proper care of indoor tangerine involves, first of all, the choice of a suitable soil. For citrus fruits, a special soil is sold (pH should be neutral: 6.5–7), but if you wish, you can prepare the substrate yourself. For a tangerine tree, a mixture of leafy and turfy soil (2 parts each) and clean river sand (1 part) is a good choice. Some people recommend adding some wood ash as well. Mandarins do not like acidified soils, which means that peat should not be added.

What capacity is right

For the first time, mandarin seeds can be planted in plastic cups with a volume of 200 ml, only in the bottoms you need to make holes for drainage. You can use one common container. In the future, you will need regular transplants. For them, you need to select pots only slightly larger than the previous ones: if we plant a plant in an overly large pot, the root system will not be able to cover the entire earth and the water will start to stagnate. This can lead to root rot.

Selection and preparation of seeds

To successfully grow a tangerine tree, you need to pick up large seeds with bulging sides. Thin and as if dried out will not germinate, or they will be weak. It is advisable that several seeds be planted, even if you want to grow only one indoor tangerine: some of the seedlings may die, besides, it is better to have the choice to grow the strongest and strongest sprout. The sooner the seeds are planted, the more likely you will be able to grow a tangerine tree from them, so you do not need to dry them.

It is recommended to soak tangerine seeds for five days before planting. We carry out the correct soaking as follows: put 2-3 layers of gauze on a saucer, spread the seeds on them and cover with gauze again. Then we moisturize. There should not be a lot of water, it should be completely absorbed into the gauze. You can use cotton pads or thin cotton. Care should be taken to keep the material moist for five days. The saucer itself must be placed in a lighted place, avoiding direct sunlight.

Necessary conditions and care for seedlings

Finally, when the mandarin seeds are swollen enough, sowing can begin.We place drainage at the bottom of the cups or common container: small pebbles or nutshells will do. The seeds should be planted to a depth of 1–1.5 cm. If a white shoot has already appeared on the mandarin seed, this is the root, and it should be directed downward. The soil should be watered immediately after planting. Personally, after I planted the seeds, I covered the container on top with polyethylene. This creates a mini-greenhouse effect and improves germination, although not required.

Of course, in this case, the "greenhouse" needs to be ventilated from time to time, and when sprouts appear, "accustom" them to the microclimate in the house, gradually increasing the ventilation time. For tangerines to germinate successfully at home, the correct temperature should be 20-25 ° C. Watering should be regular and the air humid.

Transplanting seedlings

Now let's look at how to plant a tangerine in a permanent place. Germination times for tangerine seedlings can fluctuate due to different conditions in the home. Sometimes the first shoots appear on the 15th day, sometimes it may take a whole month.

When the grown tangerine seedlings gave the first four leaves, they should be dived, that is, transplanted. We plant the strongest shoots in a new container, weak plants can be immediately discarded. If one seed has given two shoots, and they are equivalent, plant them in separate containers, since each has its own roots. If one sprout is noticeably weaker, it is easier to pinch. We choose a pot of a suitable volume, fill in the drainage and a little soil.

Then carefully remove the lump of earth from the seedling container around the roots of the seedling. Such a method - transferring with the ground - minimally traumatizes the young plant. Finally, add the soil to the pot. Tangerines that have not yet begun to bear fruit are transplanted annually, choosing a pot 1 cm larger than the previous one. After the beginning of fruiting, the "living space" is increased by 4–6 cm. Large trees are not transplanted, only part of the upper soil is removed and fresh soil is filled in so that the plant has nourishment.

Formation and further care

It should be borne in mind that the fruits are tied only on the branches of the 4th branch, so the tangerine needs to be pinched. The first is done when the shoot reaches 40 cm, removing the top. This will cause the plant to shoot laterally. They also need to be pinched into 4-5 sheets until the necessary ones are formed. Another way is to slightly tilt the 1st order branches towards the ground using a wire.

In addition to the usual care, you can form a beautiful crown of indoor citrus fruits. To do this, you need to think about the shape of the houseplant in advance. Tangerine trees look good with a rounded crown, which is obtained by cutting off "knock-out" branches.

The house plant also needs sanitary pruning: old, diseased and dried branches must be removed.

If the crown is very thick, it can be thinned out. Gardeners who want a tangerine to produce tasty fruit at home should consider that, as a rule, when planting from a stone, a tree produces inedible fruit. To fix this, you need a graft from a varietal cuttings.

When the trunk of a plant grown from a bone is a pencil, at a height of 6-7 cm from the ground, a T-shaped incision 2.5x1 cm is made on the bark. Having spread the bark, insert a bud with a leaf petiole from a varietal tree and press the bark back. We process the place of inoculation with garden varnish. The bark can be secured with electrical tape. Then the plant is placed in a mini-greenhouse (you can use a bag) for about a month, gradually increasing the airing time. If the graft has taken root, the stem of the stock must be cut obliquely with a secateurs, 5 mm further than the grafting site, and treated with pitch. Then we remove the electrical tape.

To properly care for tangerine trees, they need to be watered regularly as the soil dries and the crown should be sprayed. In addition to spraying, you can place containers with water next to the tree.This is especially important in hot summer months and in winter when the air is dry due to central heating.

After the beginning of flowering, watering is reduced, and for the winter the tree is placed in a cool place (10–12 ° C) - this stimulates the setting of buds. When spraying, care must be taken that water does not get on the flowers. For a homemade tangerine, you need abundant diffused lighting. The best options would be south, east and southeast windows. It is advisable to disturb the plant as little as possible with permutations. In order for the crown to develop evenly, you can turn the pot once every two weeks and no more than 10 degrees. Follow the rules and your homemade tangerine will be admired!

Video "Planting a tangerine tree"

This video will show you how to properly plant a tangerine tree.

We can confidently say that ten years ago, most people associated tangerines with New Year's holidays. I can't say why, but at the word "tangerine" my imagination drew a fat uncle from a cartoon about a greedy Chinese ruler (tangerine). And it was unaware to me that the tangerine is not a person at all, but a plant. Later, in biology lessons, we were told what a tangerine tree it is and how tangerines grow. Then we did not even imagine that in the foreseeable future the tangerine on the windowsill would not be very rare and this exotic citrus would become an ornamental indoor plant. If you have a desire, we will tell you how to grow a tangerine at home and about the rules of home care.

Transplanting seedlings

There are two ways to grow a tangerine tree in an apartment: from seeds or from purchased seedlings. The first path is, of course, longer and does not guarantee your success. Buying tangerine tree seedlings will greatly facilitate and speed up the process.

Indoor tangerine is an unpretentious plant to care for, but transplanting takes an important place in the development of a tree. If you grew tangerine from seeds in a pot, and you have several shoots, when the first leaves appear, they will need to be planted in separate small containers. It may also be that two sprouts will grow from one seed: they can be planted or a weaker shoot can be pinned.

In the future, indoor tangerine will require a transplant for the development of the root system. If the roots of your seedlings have occupied the entire space of the previous container, then together with the soil you need to transfer them into a larger pot. The pot should not be too large, otherwise you risk waterlogging the soil. In order to grow tangerines at home, you need to choose a special soil for the soil, for citrus fruits. Well, don't forget about drainage. A fruiting tangerine tree is transplanted every few years, gradually increasing the diameter of the container. When transplanting, the root collar should not be buried in the soil. It is not recommended to replant an old or too large plant; it is enough to replace the topsoil.

Maintenance and care

Indoor tangerine requires constant crown shaping. It is recommended to constantly pinch the seedling so that the plant sprouts new shoots and bears fruit in the future. It takes several years to form, because you need to remove not only weak shoots, but the tips of all the others after the fifth leaf. You can also correct the growth and development of branches using fixation.

It is not enough to know how to grow a tangerine tree, a lot depends on the care. Taking care of a tangerine tree at home is not difficult. Care depends on how old your plant is and what it is intended for. If the tangerine tree is still young (4–5 years old) or the plant is grown for decorative purposes only, it should be watered regularly, but not poured. The soil should be moist, but not marshy. Also, a home tree needs to be sprayed frequently. Citrus fruits are light-loving crops.However, if you place a tangerine on a window, then you need to shade it from direct sunlight, otherwise the plant may get burned. The light should be diffused. In winter, fluorescent lamps should be used.

When the tree begins to bloom in winter, the number of watering should be reduced, a rest regime is required with a temperature of about 12 degrees Celsius. In spring, the temperature should be kept within 18 degrees, in summer not higher than 25. Otherwise, the tangerine may discolor. Spray indoor tangerine should be so that water does not get on the flowers.

Plant feeding

The cultivation of a tangerine for the purpose of obtaining fruit also requires a special approach to fertilization. When the plant gets older, you need to start feeding. Mandarin grows quite quickly if fertilized from the beginning of spring to autumn. No feeding is required in winter. For feeding tangerines at home, it is best to use special fertilizers for citrus fruits.

It is also possible to use infusion of mullein or chicken droppings, if the smell does not make you uncomfortable. It is better to alternate the types of feeding, and citrus should be fertilized strictly according to the instructions, otherwise an excess of fertilizers can harm the plant. You should also take into account the special feeding regime of the grown citrus during the transplantation period.

Grafting

The tangerine tree, like other citrus fruits, must be grafted from varietal crops. Therefore, before you grow a tangerine at home, familiarize yourself with the basic methods of plant grafting. First of all, take care of a special tool. The most effective and simplest method of grafting is budding. For her, you will need a stock, that is, your own indoor tangerine, and a scion - a petiole with a bud on a thin section of bark from varietal citrus. The rootstock diameter at the time of grafting should be about 6 mm.

A small T-shaped incision is made on the stem of the stock, about 2.5 cm vertically and 1 cm diagonally. Bending the edges of the bark, carefully insert the petiole with the kidney into the incision and press it against the trunk. The vaccination site should be wrapped with grafting tape and covered with garden varnish. You can place the tree in a makeshift ventilated greenhouse. After the emergence of a new shoot from the bud, the bandage is removed, and the stem of the stock is cut with a pruner at a height of 5 mm from the site of inoculation.

Conditions for fruiting

In order for the tangerine not only to grow, but also to bear fruit, several conditions must be observed: a stable temperature regime, high air humidity, adherence to irrigation regimes, feeding with complex mineral fertilizers.

Disease and pest control

The tangerine tree you have grown can be attacked by pests and diseases: gluttonous mites, aphids, flies can damage the leaves; dangerous diseases - gray rot, late blight, fusarium - can completely destroy the plant. To combat them, it is better to use biological products. Chemicals can also be used, but then you are unlikely to be able to calmly feast on the fruits. Take preventive measures and trouble can be avoided.

Follow the tips on how to grow a tangerine and eat it for health!

Video "Growing and caring for tangerine"

This video reveals the secrets of growing and properly caring for a mandarin tree.